I'm back home after a long but successful trip. I attended a Board meeting for the Association of Professional Piercers, did piercings in Atlanta and Philadelphia, and shot a segment for The Learning Channel about erotic piercings.

In Atlanta I performed 53 piercings on 31 clients over 3 days. They came from Alabama, Florida, Illinois, South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia (of course), and Ontario, Canada to be pierced by me.

In Philadelphia, I performed 71 piercings on 50 clients over 4 days. They came to get pierced by me from Connecticut, Deleware, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Washington DC, and of course, Pennsylvania, plus Ontario, Canada! Wow!!

As usual, I did primarily female genital piercings--LOTS of VCH piercings, and a good number of triangles, too. I There were quite a few women who got both, while we were at it. I also did a few inner labia piercings and a fourchette or two. I did some male genital piercings too, including an apadravya, some frenums, and a lorum. I did a number of nipple piercings, including one woman who had inverted nipples when she arrived, and very perky non-inverted nipples when she left. She was so delighted--I completely cured her inverted nipples!

I told a good friend of mine about my trip. She is a really great woman, a writer who is also an American living in the Yucatan. She wrote to me:

Stephen says, "Hello Elayne, I know I don't know you personally, however after reading your book.it seems like I do now. im a tattoo artist in ontario canada, and im currently apprenticing to add piercings to my repertoire. however im very pasonate about adding as much knowledge to any field that I persue. and I can honestly say your book covers it all. wow!!! seriously. well done , thank you for taking the time to put this amount of knowledge out there. this book should be standard reading before anyone even thinks of starting a carreer in the body modification industry. the reason for my message Elayne is that I take my job very seriously and care very much about my clients and want to give them my best. I.m always trying to add the best people in the industry to my list of friends as support to show that I'm always learning and helping them with their best interest. I would be very honored if you would add me to your circle of friends. perhaps we'll meet at a convention some day. thanks Elayne, you have really lit a fire under me to be great at this. take care... s.s."

I'm super excited for this weekend. I'll be piercing in Atlanta for the first time in quite a few years. I've got lots of appointments lined up, mostly for female genital piercings including VCH and triangle piercings, but also for nipples, and some male genital piercings, including an apadravya, pubic piercing, frenum piercings, and dydoe piercings.

In going through my messages, I got more emails from women who have received botched genital piercings. One woman got a VCH that was so far off to the side, I suggested she consider a matching one on the other side of her hood, and she'd have a perfect set of Princess Diana piercings. I can't even imagine how a piercer accidentally gets a midline piercing so far off to one side? Was he piercing with his eyes shut? No wonder people are willing to travel from other states (and even other countries!) to get pierced by me!

Anyway, I just want to encourage everyone who wants to get pierced to do their homework and select a qualified piercer who has the necessary training and skill to accomplish the job safely, accurately, and quickly. So how can you be sure? By being an educated consumer! How do you get to be an educated consumer? One way is by reading The Piercing Bible. You'll learn everything you need to know to evaluate piercers, select quality jewelry, make good choices for placement on your body, and for aftercare during healing.

I just wanted to thank you for writing The Piercing Bible, it has helped me grow as a piercer and develop a deep love for piercing. I started piercing as a way to get my foot in the door to the tattoo industry but my teacher put her heart and soul into teaching me how to pierce and always talked about you and your book. I have ordered two copies of your book, one for my home and one for the shop I work at. Thank you so much for inspiring so many people and for indirectly helping me find my first and second loves one being piercing and the second my teacher, we are now engaged to be married. thank you

My reply:

Thanks so much for your message and congratulations to you and your fiance!

That sure gave me a warm fuzzy feeling! I'm thrilled to hear that my book has proved to have such a positive impact on your career and your perspective on piercing. I can't say I ever imagined that my book would ever be responsible (even indirectly) for a romantic connection. I'm so happy that you shared your good news with me.

Send my warmest regards and respect to your mentor/fiance. I wish the two of you a lifetime of happiness together.